"I Do More in One Day Than You Do in Three, Literally."

[Kintara]

I have an old character I made for a GURPS game that I'm playing around with. Basically, the character's only power is that time is moving three times faster for him. The campaign he was created for is based on the premise that the Cold War is on, and the US and Russians are in a Supers arms build up. Of course the problem is that the machines they use to induce superpowers make you loopy. This guy's problem, besides that he's going to live his life as if everyone is in slo-mo, is that he thinks he is the one moving normally. He gets very impatient with everyone, to say the least, and let's just say setting up schedules with him are even tougher than they would already be. (Edit: And don't show him a clock. . . .)

 

At any rate (er...), I was thinking about what powers he would get out of this. The old character was limited by the fact that Altered Time Rate is really expensive in GURPS, and ate a big portion of his points. Speed is, comparatively, much cheaper. I figured SPD 9 sounded about right. I also got thinking that his Strength could be 3 times higher as well (+20 STR, bought with No Figured Characteristics and Reduced Endurance, to simulate it's simply a result of being sped up). The Strength/time thing can be interpreted many ways, though, so I'm free to creative interpretation. In a similar vein, I bought +10 REC (an additional 2 times more) with the limitation "Only for Long Term Recovery." I figured the limitation was appropriate because speedy recovery in the short term can be simulated with spending extra phases.

 

Then I thought that it made sense to boost the DEX to 30 (still keeping the SPD at 9), as well as the INT. Both are basically reaction time things. The DEX is somewhat perplexing, though, because of SPD. Maybe the Dex is overkill.

 

What else do you think might be appropriate? I'd like to limit the idea to a rather straight-forward premise, though (stemming from simply living three times faster).

[Lord Liaden]

I'm not sure that increased DEX necessarily fits into your concept. It subsumes reaction time, reflexes, coordination. It's also a direct aid to CV, which is debatable as a result of being speeded up. I'd suggest the Lightning Reflexes Talent - no direct effect on CV, but a less expensive way to help your character react sooner than opponents with a higher DEX.

 

As long as we're looking at Talents, I'd say that Speed Reading would be appropriate, and perhaps Lightning Calculator if he's mathematically inclined.

 

I'm a bit unclear as to the special effect represented by the character's increased Strength; could you describe what feature of moving faster that's supposed to reflect?

[Klytus]

In my games, we have a House-Rules power called Hypertasking (I borrowed the ideas from these boards, but forgot who first posted it). This is a Power that costs 10 points per level (based on the cost for an Overall Level) and what it does is allow you to complete a task one level down on the Time Chart for every level. Say a task normaly takes an hour. With 1 level of Hypertasking, it takes just 20 minutes, and it is the same as if you actually spent an hour doing it. This Power is very common for speedsters to have in our games, and it sounds like this character is a perfect candidate for it.

[Kintara]

Thanks for the input, both are ideas to consider. As for the other abilities, do you think they seem about right?

[Agent X]

3x speed = 3x force in a punch, maybe even 3x lifting

 

+10 STR over what he would have at normal speed

9 Speed for a Base 3 Speed guy sounds about right

High Dex isnt' a problem, higher speed means it is harder for others to avoid your attacks so DEX affecting CV seems appropriate to me

 

Lightning Calculator sounds good

Rapid Sensing at very low levels?

 

I like the Hypertasking idea

 

So, if he's a guy with a 20 STR and a 15 DEX and a 3 Speed and an 8 Recovery without 3x speed I dont' see why he couldn't have a 30 STR, 27DEX, and a 9 Speed with a 24 Recovery with your long-term limitation.

[Chuckg]

+3 Overall Skill Levels, Only To Counteract Penalties For Hurrying (-1) -- 24 active, 12 real points

 

Adapted from "UNTIL Superpowers Database" and the 'Fast Tasks' slot. This one lets you do 1 Turn's worth of work in 1 Phase.

[Captain Super]

O.K., i do not fully agree with Laiden. Greatly slowed down time would help in combat and increase CV. It would not help a person climb a wall or pick a lock however. Perhaps DEX with a -1/4 limitation-doesn't increase manual dexterity tasks. Obviously a ball moving in slow motion is easier to catch, but slowed perception won't help you in brain surgery.

 

Hyper tasking is a great power/talent concept. It's also a lot cleaner than change environment for this SFX. The point cost might need to be examined.

 

As for STR, I understand extra HTH damage but not xtra STR. Force not lift would be increased.

 

JMHO

[BoneDaddy]

If this time speed up is a function of general relativity, some density increase would be expected. Or do I have that backwards? Einsteinian physics, anyone?

[freakboy6117]

i was working on a character with a similar sort of power, he has total control over his personal time flow but a psycological limit about using up his life span at an accelerated rate so he spends large chunks of time in stasis catching up on time spent at 10X or even 100X or 1000X times normal time he also wears a watch that calculates his local time so he can keep in sync with the real world.(sad thing is the accident that has given him his powers has also made him functionally immortal but he doesn't know that yet.)

 

is there a good way to handle temporal stasis? i considred extra dimensional travel but I think he could still be harmed it would just take a very long time for him to notice the damage.

[freakboy6117]

yeah youd want density decrease the greater your mass the slower time moves for you and the faster you move the more mass you have. which is why a massiveobject(not as in big but as in having mass like pretty mcuh everything but photons) can never reach light speed because the harder you push the harder you have to push to get the same effect if you actually reached lightspeed you'd be pushing infinitly hard to move your infinite mass.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Actually, I could see an increased time rate giving you a higher DEX...it doesn't mean you're less likely to trip and fall, knock a glass off a table, or fall off a ledge...but it means you've got 3 times as long to react to it, so you've got a better chance of mitgating or even avoiding the consequences of your clumsiness.

 

Example:

 

Normal Guy (DEX 10) making a DEX roll (at 11-) to walk along a narrow ledge without falling off.

 

Normal Guy rolls a 13 and falls off.

 

Fast Guy (DEX 30) is makeing a DEX roll (at 15-) to walk along a narrow ledge without falling off.

 

Fast Guy rolls a 13 and makes it. Special effect: at one point losing his footing for a moment, windmills arms wildly, and regains his balance because he could react to the sensation of falling faster than Normal Guy could.

 

If you want to make that sort of SFX work for you, just look at your 3d6 roll. If you made it, but what you rolled was higher than 11, just add some little descriptive bit like the above to simulate the higher DEX coming from "faster reaction time."

[TaxiMan]

Does time only go by faster for him? Or is there a field around him?

 

If it's just him, then inertia will be a b!tch. It will take 3x the force to move things like we do. We pick up a chair & move it, to jerk the chair up at the same rate takes 3x the force. So, he could be stronger just because moving things around is so difficult (it isn't difficult to keep something moving, just change its movement).

 

Falling will be 1/3 the rate. He'll feel like he's on a low-g planet. High DEX? No problem, everything (including him, when falling) is moving slow. If his strength is increased to the point where he moves around "normally", he'll be able to jump really high - 9x higher by my calculations, ignoring air resistance (I assumed 1/3 the effective force of gravity).

 

He'll feel like it's hard to speed up & slow down. He'll have to lean forward & PUSH to start walking (which would be 3x our rate), reverse that for stopping. Running would be worse. He'd definitely have a turn mode on his movement!

 

Now I'm really reaching, not sure of my physics. But seems like light would be red-shifted. He'd see in the UV range, since UV light would be 1/3 as fast to him, thus shift into the visual range. For light to "slow down" by a factor of three, you need a lot of shifting (I'm thinking this is like stars that are moving away at 66% of the speed of light). Beyond my pay grade to do the math, I'd have to crack a book.

 

Hearing would be the same. He'd hear in the ultrasonic range - and probably talk there too. His larynx would vibrate at 3x the speed, we'd hear a squeaky voice (normal speech is around 2,000 Hz - 6kHz is audible, but high).

 

All that depends on where the extra speed occurs. Just him, weird effects. Surrounded by some sort of "speed up" field, no problems.

[TaxiMan]

Other effects - his falling damage would be 1/3 normal. Instead of maxing out at 30", he'd hit 10" (subjectively) and air resistance would = gravity. Since there is so much inertia to objects (in his frame of reference), he could throw things and get a good recoil. For example, if falling from a skyscraper with an office chair, he could wait until close to the ground & throw the chair at the ground. That would slow him down a lot.

 

Breakfall, OIF? Sounds good to me.

[Klytus]

Originally posted by Chuckg

+3 Overall Skill Levels, Only To Counteract Penalties For Hurrying (-1) -- 24 active, 12 real points

 

Adapted from "UNTIL Superpowers Database" and the 'Fast Tasks' slot. This one lets you do 1 Turn's worth of work in 1 Phase.

Cool. Then the 10 points per level of Hypertasking isn't out of line.

 

It looks like I may need ot buy this book...

[BoneDaddy]

Originally posted by Klytus

Cool. Then the 10 points per level of Hypertasking isn't out of line.

 

It looks like I may need ot buy this book...

 

Consider the following: "Extra Time" is a power limitation, at .25/level, unless its to decrease the recovery rate for Drain type power, when its an advantage. Wouldn't "Faster" be an advantage, at the same level? Conversely, couldn't "Faster" be a disadvantage for a drain, aid, or transform that lasts only seconds?

 

So, take a research task that would take the average chemist a month, buy chemistry at a +1.5 advantage, and do it in seconds! Thus, the evil genius escapes his cell by rendering an explosive from the plastic spoon you gave him, after only three hours!

 

The obvious limit is one phase. You can't make an attack an instant power.

[Kintara]

Regarding how it works, I picture it as if he's in fast-forward, and we're in normal speed. So when he jumps, he doesn't go any higher than normal, and physics feels the same to him. Of course, to us it looks completely wrong.

 

Anyway, his Strength could be thought of in quite a few different ways. If I expand on the idea above, then it means that gravity is altered in relation to him. It exerts the same force on him, just in an altered way in respect to time. So, the force equation might just be altered, but essentially equalized. He's faster, but has less inertia (Is that right? I am very much not a physics major.).

 

But I don't like that. I like the idea of him being stronger. So, does anyone with a stronger grasp on physics have a good interpretation to consider? I suppose I wouldn't mind him jumping higher, but I do like the visual of him looking all fast-forwardy.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Well, if he's moving at 3 times the normal time rate, he's burning energy at 3 times the normal rate, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say he's 3 times normal strength. After all, look what happens with adrenalin...it's a temporary supercharge of the energy burn in the body. It's like he's on adrenalin all the time, except that since everything else in his body is similarly speeded up, he doesn't injure himself or "burn himself out."

 

How's that?

[Kintara]

Ah, that does make sense; I do picture him eating three times more food. In fact, I bought Increased Life Support for the character in GURPS.